Captain Midnight V.C.

I heard that a significant milestone had been achieved by La Boite theatre in Brisbane in 2015. I felt that I made some contribution to La Boite, specifically in 1974, so I thought that I would share my story.

I was involved in the 1974 production of Captain Midnight VC at La Boîte. I played guitar in the Red Gum Trio, the musical section of the production which took place in the 'theatre in the round' which had been constructed a couple of years previously.

When I read the analysis in the link last year at http://90years.laboite.com.au/1970/captain-midnight-v-c
it brought back general and specific memories of the production and the people who contributed to it.

I recall that the play seemed to be a work in progress at the time. I say this for two reasons. First, when playwright Jack Hibberd attended on closing night, I recall him commenting after the performance that he thought that the play was coming along very well. I think that it might have become a motion picture some years later.

Another reason why I make this comment is that on the night after David Rowbotham's scathing review of the play in the Courier-Mail, the audience, obviously reduced in number by that review, consisted of maybe a dozen people, and the director, Lindsay Smith, on secondment from Melbourne's Pram Factory, decided on the spot to take a risk by turning that performance into a workshop in which the audience became willingly involved. I believe that that was a success from the audience's point of view.

The production of Captain Midnight VC went for five or six weeks from April to May 1974, playing (from memory) for three nights per week from Wednesday to Friday with a final Saturday performance.

It seemed to me that, with maybe a couple of exceptions, most of the actors saw themselves as being involved in a strictly amateur capacity. I thought that the Director, Lindsay Smith, who to me seemed to be a seasoned professional, worked very well with this restriction. Before one rehearsal, maybe mid way through the season, however, he started to lay down the law, even mentioning the word 'discipline', which seemed such an old fashioned term in those laissez-faire days, particularly when it was used by a 'counter culture' type of director (which Lindsay Smith clearly was). In those days, it seemed fairly simple to characterise the notion of discipline as somehow 'right wing'. I was part of the Red Gum Trio (actually there were only two of us) and on one occasion after the David Rowbotham review, I turned up late for a rehearsal, as my weekly guitar lesson had been delayed that night, I was admonished by the director even though I was not indispensable to the production (being a musician in the context of the show).

Towards the end of the production, several cast members fell into the trap of changing what was rehearsed and what was in the script. This didn't work and led to several embarrassing moments, though of course the show went on.

Regarding the people involved in the production, I particularly recall Peter Copeman, the assistant director, as an enthusiastic young man of around my vintage, whom I reckoned would go a long way. I generally hate using the term 'passionate' when referring to people's choice of profession, though I remember Peter saying on several occasions that he absolutely loved theatre. So it would not be hard to imagine him saying that he was "passionate" about "theatre". At a party after one performance, Peter wanted to interest others in creating original scripts and music, though in the end nothing seemed to come of that. At the time, I was very interested in the creative music side of musical theatre - I had, as a 15-year-old seen the Australian version of Hair in Sydney in August 1970 and I was impressed with the rock music backing in that show. I am quite certain that Peter himself was responsible for the term 'paranoid' being written as an afterthought on the published advertisement for the show. This edited version of the original poster appears on the La Boite website as the official poster for the play.

I had originally approached La Boite in early 1974 after being referred to the group by Alan Edwards from SGIO Theatre - my mother had made enquiries and I had an interview with Mr Edwards who referred me to apply to be part of the upcoming production of Captain Midnight VC.

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Lindsay Smith did an exceptional job.

I personally feel privileged to have contributed as an amateur at La Boite in the 1970s (even if my surname was mis-spelled in the programme).


Kind regards
Michael Leeman

0400 406 002
07 3378 0255
michael@mjlaw.com.au

—Michael Leeman